Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 64: Rāma Discovers Some Clues About Sītā’s Whereabouts
Text 3.64.20
येन मार्गं च भूमिं च निरीक्षन्ते स्म ते मृगाः।
पुनश्च मार्गमिच्छन्ति लक्ष्मणेनोपलक्षिताः॥
yena mārgaṁ ca bhūmiṁ ca nirīkṣante sma te mṛgāḥ
punaś ca mārgam icchanti lakṣmaṇenopalakṣitāḥ
yena = because; mārgam ca = at the path on the sky; bhūmim = the land in the southern direction; ca = and; nirīkṣante sma = looked; te = those; mṛgāḥ = deer; punaḥ ca = and [because]; mārgam = by that path; icchanti = they wanted to go; lakṣmaṇena = Lakṣmaṇa; upalakṣitāḥ = understood their gestures.
Because those deer looked at the path on the sky and the land in the southern direction, and [because] they wanted to go by that path, Lakṣmaṇa understood their gestures.1
1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: yena kāraṇena.
Śrī Vālmīki repeats this in the next verse.